Havana

After traveling around Cuba, Havana clearly stood out as the popular tourist location. There’s so much to do in Havana and there’s a plethora of restaurant and bar options. We spent three days in Havana and tackled the major tourist landmarks including the Museo de la Revolucion, the old city, the beach, downtown Havana, Museo del Chocolate, Fabrica de Arte Cubano, and El Morro.

Museo de la Revolucion

One of our first stops in Havana was the Museo de la Revolucion. Growing up in the United States, the history of the US-Cuba relations taught in school slants towards a US bias. I was fascinated to learn about the relations from the Cuban perspective, and the museum did not fail to impress. Many of the exhibits had language in favor of the socialist state and portrayed the US in a negative light.

The Old City

When in the old city, admire the buildings, get a drink, and eat some food!

View of the old city through a restaurant window

Havana street off the old city

Santa Maria Del Mar

After traveling for over a week, we spent a day at the beach. The sand was white and the ocean a light, clear blue. There’s a restaurant on the beach and waiters deliver drinks to you at your beach chair. We greatly appreciated the relaxing, calmness of the Havana beach.

Downtown Havana

The gritty realness of downtown Havana contrasts with the regal feel of the old city.

Museo del Chocolate

The Museo del Chocolate was right by our AirBnB and almost always drew a long line. Because we always walked by it, we had to check it out. This is a chocolate shop, not an actual museum. We bought the chocolate truffles, which tasted great after having no access to chocolate for a week. I would recommend stopping here if you need a chocolate fix, but don’t expect to learn much about chocolate.

Fabrica de Arte Cubano

The Fabrica de Arte Cubano is an amazing space. It is an art gallery, music and performance space, bar, and restaurant located in an old peanut oil factory. There is a myriad of rooms with different artistic performances and bars. We arrived at 8PM, when it opened. There wasn’t a line and entry costs 2 CUC per person. We had drinks from many of the bars, which all have different styles of drinks. We saw live classical music, people taking dance lessons, live DJs, and multiple art exhibits.

El Morro

El Morro is across the water from most of Havana. We took the public bus to get to the fortress. The fortress is massive and has been restored to resemble a small village on the inside of it. The fortress offers plenty vantage points to view the Havana shoreline and also serves as a popular hangout spot for middle school and high schoolers. There was even a children’s carnival happening while we were there.